Does anyone remember Triple S, a talented heavyweight who periodically flirted with title contention during the 2000s? I was working my way through wikipedia earlier today and was shocked to see that he died several years ago from liver failure due to extreme alcoholism. RIP SSS had an amazing chin and several big wins had him looking (to me at least) that he would be a big deal in the post Lennox Lewis era. He ended up losing his biggest fights, catapaulting his opponents to bigger, better things. JC Gomez beat him and eventually challenged for the heavyweight title, while Luan Krasniqui did the same. Maskaev's win over SSS launched him to a bout with Rahman, which he won to reclaim the title. Very sad to hear of his death, even so belatedly.
Had some talent for sure. And judging by how he died he struggled with the bottle even while in his fighting prime. Which would certainly suggest that he'd have done better if not for his alcoholism. He was a decent fringe contender in his day..... I think he cause a lot of the current heavies barring the elite problems. Would float somewhere around 15-30 h2h I'd say.
He gets to be the best Turkish heavyweight ever, at least. He might've gone slightly farther with decent conditioning.
I remember reading a quote dealing with the death of jazz pianist Bill Evans that said that Evans' death by alcoholism was the 'slowest suicide of all time'. Anyone who has watched a friend or loved one struggle with crisis-level alcoholism will appreciate the accuracy of that description. SSS's death is a vivid illustration of how substance abuse can conquer anyone. I find the image of a proud warrior like SSS vomiting blood before permanently losing consciousness both sad and deeply unsettling. Hopefully someday this sport can find a way to help its participants cope with addiction and mental illness.
For some reason I don't get, lots of folks thought he'd steamroll Gomez. He was an up and comer and they were looking past Gomez for things on the horizon. As often happens, these guys get beat and lose about 25% of their effectiveness and that big of a subtraction really can ruin promising careers. Like everyone else, he had a tightrope to walk in a big fight. But why his corner accepted a tall pedigreed southpaw boxer like Gomez, I'll never understand. He needed an old name that was easy to hit, like say an Alex Stewart.